McConnell aide: 'Holding my nose'

Mitch McConnell’s campaign manager, Jesse Benton, told an Iowa conservative activist in January that he is “sort of holding my nose for two years” working for McConnell to benefit Rand Paul in 2016, according to a recording of their phone call posted Thursday.

Benton helped Paul get elected to the Senate in 2010, then moved to McConnell’s reelection campaign last fall, one sign of a carefully constructed alliance between the two Kentucky Republicans.

Story Continued Below

The activist, Dennis Fusaro, told POLITICO that he provided a recording of his Jan. 9 phone call with Benton to the blog, Economic Policy Journal, which posted it Thursday. Fusaro said the recording is authentic.

“Between you and me, I’m sort of holding my nose for two years because what we’re doing here is going to be a big benefit to Rand in ’16, so that’s my long vision,” Benton said in the call. Paul is believed to be gearing up for a run for president in 2016.

“It is truly sick that someone would record a private phone conversation I had out of kindness and use it to try to hurt me,” Benton said in an emailed statement that the McConnell campaign provided to POLITICO on Thursday. “I believe in Senator McConnell and am 100 percent committed to his re-election. Being selected to lead his campaign is one of the great honors of my life and I look forward to victory in November of 2014.”

The call was part of Fusaro’s attempt to get to the bottom of allegations by Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) that Iowa state lawmaker Kent Sorenson was offered money to jump ship to Ron Paul’s presidential campaign — allegations the Paul camp and Sorenson have denied.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee blasted out a link to the blog post on Thursday, as did the Madison Project, which backs McConnell primary challenger Matt Bevin.

“Mitch McConnell is so unpopular in Kentucky that even his own campaign manager can’t stand him,” DSCC spokesman Justin Barasky said in a statement. “Unfortunately for McConnell, polls show the people of Kentucky won’t be holding their noses in 2014.”